Legacy of a wolf
by Overlord Salem
Summary: Tanner Grey and his twin sister Emma are two wolf faunus trying to leave the White Fang and start a better life for themselves. Will they succeed, or will their past come back to haunt them.
1. White Fang

**authors notes: This is my first attempt at righting a fanfiction. Any constructive criticism is appreciated as I am just starting out. But I would like to keep at this. I have had these characters floating around in my head for a while now and wanted to share them with everyone.**

Tonight was the night. If Tanner and his sister were to get out, it had to be soon. The young wolf faunus sat in the dark hallway of the old factory, contemplating how to go about his plan. Being deep in thought, he did not notice the presence of a certain raven haired girl next to him.

"Tann, is everything alright?"

Tanners wolf ears twitched as he was startled at the sudden appearance. Lifting his gaze to meet hers, Tanner was relieved to see the bright yellow eyes of his friend looking down at him. "Blake! You startled me. Not many people can surprise me like that. You cat's are really sneaky." The wolf extended his arm out from his side, motioning for the feline to sit next to him.

Blake gratiously accepted the offer and sat down. "Well we have to be with all you canines lurking about." Her mouth curling into a sly smile. The worried look on her friends face had her concerned though. "So, whats got you out of bed at this hour?"

Tanner was unable to look her in the eyes, instead opting to stare at the wall across from them. After what seemed like an eternity the wolf was finally able to break the long silence. "Blake, do you remember what the White Fang used to represent?" The young man raising his sight to finally meet the amber glow of his friends eyes.

The bow that Blake used to conceal her cat ears twitched as she was confused by the question, but decided to keep silent, allowing him to continue.

"I have always believed in what this organization has stood for. Peace and equallity between humans and faunus. It's the dream of all faunus to not be hated just because you were born differently." He paused to let out a long sigh and continued his thoughts. "When our parents were killed, we had nowhere to go. No orphanage would take us because of our faunus heritage. We had to fend for ourselves on the streets. Thats when the White Fang found us and took us in. They gave us food and shelter, gave us an education, and for the first time, we felt like we were part of a family again. Thats why my loyalty has never waned in all these years, until now. I'm not blind, I can see what we've become. Peaceful protests are now organized attacks, picket lines replaced with riots, setting fire to shops who refuse to serve us. We are no better than common terrorists now, and I can't..." Tanners voice started to crack, trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. After a few seconds, Tanner regained his composure and continued. "I can't... we can't be a part of this anymore. Emma and I have decided to leave."

Fear gripped the young man, his mind started to race at the realization of what he had just confessed. _How could I have been so stupid. Blurting out the plan before discussing it with her first. What if she doesn't feel the same us, What if..._ Tanner felt something hit the back of his hand. Looking down, he saw Blakes hand grasping his. He drew his gaze up, golden red meeting her yellow. Both unable to hold back the tears cascading down their faces.

"Tann, I feel the same as you do. We've gone down a really dark path, but I still hold out for hope that one day we can return to the way it used to be. But until that time comes, you are right, this isn't the place for you two. You need to get as far away as possible."

The wolf couldn't believe what he just heard. Getting to their feet, Tanner embraced his friend in a hug that neither wanted to let go. Tanner finally broke their hold. "Thank you. Emm and I have talked about this and we want you to come with us."

"Tanner, I can't. Did you forget that I'm Adams partner? He would have every member of the White Fang out looking for me, and in the process they would find you as well. At least this way I can convince him not to waste the resources on finding you guys." Her mouth forming into smile as she spoke the last words.

Tanner was overwelmed by the lengths that his friend was willing to go to help them, but at the same time was saddened that she could not leave with them. Tanner managed to feign a smile. "Thank you Blake. I hope that we'll see you again."

"Me too. Now get going. I'll distract as many of the guards as I can. Tell Emma goodbye for me." And as quickly as she was able to sneak up on him, the faunus was gone.

Tanner made his way back to the room that he shared with Emma. It was nothing more than an old break room, but it was the best they got since the White Fang kept moving from place to place. There he found his sister sound asleep on an old couch that was left over from when the factory was operational. He went over and gently shook her shoulder. "Emma, wake up." He whispered to her. After a moment, his sister finally stired. Opening her eyes and sitting up to see her brother.

"Tann? Whats wrong?" She asked while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Is the bag that I told you to pack for yourself ready?

"Yes?!" She said, not understanding the situation all to well since her mind wasn't fully awake yet.

"Good. Get it and your weapon and be ready. We're getting out of here."

Emma jumped off the couch, the situation finally dawning on her, and proceeded to wrangle up her stuff. As she was getting ready, Tanner made his way over to his own weapons and bag that he filled with clothes, food and lien that he managed to aquire. Strapping his two swords to his back, Tanner made his way to the door.

"Wait, where's Blake? Didn't you speak to her about the plan?"

"Blakes not coming with us. She said it would be to dangerous for her to come. But she's giving us a small window of opportunity to make our escape." Tanner could see the sadness in his sisters eyes at the news that their best friend wouldn't be accompanying them. But it was quickly replaced with a look of determination.

Strapping her katana to her back, Emma looked her brother in the eye. "Right. We better not waste this chance she's given us then. Lead the way."

The siblings made their way through what seemed like an endless maze of hallways. But Tanner spent what little time they were here mapping them in his mind. _Looks like Blakes distraction worked, we haven't run into any guards at all._ Nearing the last corridor, his wolf ear's picked up voices around the corner and he stopped just short to peer around. "Damn! We were so close."

"How many are there?"

"Three. And by the look's of it they are new recruits." They were always able to tell who the new members were by of the Grimm mask and black hoods they had to wear. Tanner hated those masks and what they symbolized. Adam believed that if humanity only saw them as monsters then they would look the part. Neither them nor Blake believe that true peace can come from behind a mask.

"Tann, how are we going to get past them?"

Tanner's mind quickly snapped back to the present at the sound of his sisters voice. "Okay, just follow my lead."

The two made they're way around the corner and straight to the three guards.

"Halt! What are you two doing out past curfew with your weapons?"

Tanner was quick to come up with a lie. "We have orders from Adam to scout out a possible dust shipment from Atlas. Now if you would move aside and let us pass, we are in a hurry."

"We weren't notified that anyone was leaving tonight. I'm going to have to call this in." The guard reached into his shirt and pulled out his scroll. "We have a situation here at the main entrance. There's two..."

The guard never saw the attack coming. With lightning fast speed, Tanner jabbed his fist into the faunus's throat. Choking and unable to breath, the guard collapsed to his knees and fell over unconscious. Tanner then turned his attention to the second recruit, who was in shock at what he had just seen. He grabbed both sides of the mans head and brought it down into his knee. The force was so great that Tanner thought for sure he had broken the young man's nose. Blood spurted out of the of the recruit's face as he fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. Tanner quickly tried to go after the third guard, but was not fast enough to prevent the attack. The faunus was able to deliver a blow to the back of his head, knocking Tanner off balance and unable to counter. With a sickening thud, he landed on his back and looked up just to see the barrel of a gun pointed at his face.

"Don't fucking move!" The guard was obviously shaken from the ordeal, but managed to stay calm enough to take control of the situation. The man reached into his pocket for his scroll to call for backup, but stopped when the blackness of the dark hallway was replaced with a blinding red light. Tanner looked over and saw that his sister had her sword drawn and had it ignited with a brilliant red flame. Emma charged at the man, he tried to block the attacks but it was no use. Her strikes were quick and precise. Slicing at the guards arm, she dissarmed him then moved on to the mans abdomen. She struck multiple times and if it wasn't for the mans aura, the strikes would have been fatal. With one final blow, Emma was able to knock the recruit back with such force that he was sent flying right out through the entrance doors. She turned to her brother and reached her hand down to help him up.

Tanner looked up at his sister and took her hand. "Thank's sis." He was amazed at how well her skill with her sword has become. Tanner looked into her eyes "You keep on getting better and better every time I see you fight."

Emma started to blush from the compliment. "Thank you. I have a pretty good teacher." She had the biggest smile on her face. Tanner hadn't seen her smile like that in a long time." Her face took an more serious look now. "Umm Tann, I think we should probably go. We werent exactly quiet with those guys."

"Ya, your right, come on." Emma and Tanner made their way out of the factory and into the dead of night. As they were running, Tanner turned and looked back at the old building. He could here alarms starting to go off. No doubt every member of the White Fang will know what happened soon. But he didn't care. They had made it, and if Blake was able to keep her promise, then they wouldn't have anyone looking for them. Tanner turned back around and sprinted full speed down the street with his sister. He was hoping to never have to deal with the White Fang ever again. But deep down he knew that they would cross paths eventually.

 _Please Blake, get out while you still can._


	2. Beacon

**Authors Notes: Here is the second chapter to my Legacy of a Wolf series. This chapter took longer than expected to finish. But I think it turned out well and I hope you enjoy it.**

"Wow, you can see everything from up here." Emma was practically jumping up and down with excitement, her hands pressed up against the window as she was looking down at the city of Vale. Tanner couldn't help but smile at seeing his sister so happy.

It's been three years since the twins took their leave of the White Fang and relocated to Vale. In that time they were able to find a place to live and find jobs at places that were actually willing to hire faunus. And now the siblings were actually attending Beacon Academy.

"I'm gonna explore the rest of the ship. Catch you later." She said while taking off out of the room.

"Just don't take anything apart like you always do." Tanner yelled after her.

"Aww, you're no fun today," Replied Emma before disappearing around a corner.

Tanner couldn't help but give a small chuckle at his sister's antics.

"Well, she seem's rather excited," said an unfamiliar female voice.

Tanner turned and met the gaze of the young women who spoke. Her eye colour was the darkest shade of green that Tanner had ever seen. She also had light blue hair, which was cut short except for her bangs, which practically covered the whole right side of her face.

"It can't be helped. Ever since she was young, she has always had a fascination with machines." Tanner replied with a smile, while extending his hand out. "My name's Tanner Grey, and the bouncing ball of energy you just saw leave is my twin sister Emma."

The girl reached out and grasped his hand with her own. "I'm Annie Myst. It's a pleasure to meet you Tanner."

"It's nice to meet you as well Annie." Tanner took this time to check out the rest of her wardrobe. She had on a pair of white sneakers with black stripes, blue jeans, a dark green tank top and a black leather jacket over top of it. "That's an interesting wardrobe for combat," Tanner said with a slight grin.

"Oh, your one to talk dog boy. With your hiking boot's, black jeans and black t-shirt. It's almost identical attire to mine. The only difference is you have on that ugly grey duster jacket on."

Tanner was taken aback by this comment. "What's wrong with my jacket?"

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with it, if your a gunslinger! But you seem to have two scimatar's attached to your back. I can't help but think that coat would only hinder your movement during a sword fight."

"Well, perhaps we should have a friendly sparring match sometime in the future to see if your right." He replied with a smirk.

"Your on," she said with her own grin.

Annie went to brush some hair out of her eye's, but when she did Tanner was able to catch a glimpse of a four inch long scar under her right eye. Annie quickly turned away from Tanner when she realized that he saw the mark. "I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to see that."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to look. But if I may ask, how did you get it?"

She couldn't bring herself to look Tanner in the eye. "It's a part of my past that I really don't like talking about. So if you don't mind, could we drop it?"

"Sure thing, it wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable."

Annie looked up at Tanner with a soft smile. "Thank you."

"So uh- where are you from? Tanner was nervous on how to continue the conversation, but was relieved when Annie's mood seemed to become happier at the change of topic.

"I'm from right here in Vale. What about you?"

"We grew up in Mystral and then moved to Vale about three years ago."

"Oh? Why the big move?" She asked with an inquisitive look.

Tanner wasn't sure how much of their past he should reveal and decided to play it safe with a vague answer. "We just needed a change of scenery. Faunus aren't really treated that well back in Mystral and we heard that Vale was a much better place to live." He wasn't comfortable saying anything else and was thankfull when the hologram viewers started showing a news report that caught the attention of both of them.

"The robbery was lead by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authority's. If you have any information on his whereabouts please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

"Thank you Cyril. This saturday's Faunus civil right's protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." The news report switched off and was replaced by the image of an older looking lady with glasses and blonde hair that was tied up in a bun.

"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have recieved the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task. And now it's our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

Annie was the first to speak once the broadcast was finished. "Well I should go get ready to disembark. It was really nice meeting you Mr Grey. Oh! And you better not forget that sparring match that you promised me," she said with a wink before walking away.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Tanner yelled back to her as she exited the cabin. When Annie was gone, a voice came on over the ship's intercom.

"Ladie's and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I would like to inform you that we will be arriving at Beacon in just a few minutes. We hope you enjoyed your flight."

As the door's to the ship opened, everybody made a mad dash to get out. Tanner wasn't a big fan of crowds and decided to stay back. Once everyone else had departed, Tanner took his leave.

Beacon Academy was breathtaking, with it's intricate stone pillars that ran around the outside of the courtyard, the giant ampitheater outside the entrance to the school as well as the CCT Tower looming over every other structure on campus. _Wow, the pictures I've seen of this place really don't do it justice._

Tanner had made it to the courtyard and decided to wait for Emma there. He started feeling a pain in his leg's and realized that he hadn't sat down since early this morning. The young wolf found a nice shady spot under one of the tree's and laid down underneath it. It was nice and peaceful, until two girl's started arguing. One girl had on a red hood and black skirt while the other seemed to be dressed all in white. He was quit a distance away from them, but could hear everything clearly with his wolf ear's.

"Sorry."

"Sorry? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

"Uhh"

"Give me that. This is dust mined and purified from the Schnee quarry."

As entertaining as this fight was, Tanner decided to go back to keeping a look out for Emma. _Where could she have gone, I'm sure I got off the ship befo..._

KABOOM!

Tanner's thought's were cut short at the sound of the large explosion. He was not expecting that on the first day of school. The faunus peeked around the tree to where the two girls were standing. The one that was in white was dusting herself off with a rather pissed off look on her face.

"UNBELIEVABLE! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about."

"I'm really really sorry."

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here?! Arent you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well, I uh I-"

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice you know, we're here to fight monster's! So watch where your going!

"Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!"

At this time, a third girl came up to the two that were arguing. "It's heiress, actually."

 _Wait that can't Blake!_ Tanner couldn't believe it, but there was no mistaken it. She may have changed her outfit since the last time they saw each other, there was no mistaking it, It was Blake. Tanner wanted to go over and talk to her, but he also wanted to see this interaction play out. The faunus decided to stay behind the tree and let them continue.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producer's of energy propellent in the world."

"Finally, some recognition." Weiss said with smug arrogance.

"The same company infamous for it's controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."

This comment seemed to hit a nerve with the heiress. "What!? How dare-! the nerve of-! ugh!" The girl snatched a little red vile out of Blake's hand and stormed off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you." Yelled the younger girl in red. "Guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day. So what's-" She turned to face the girl in black, but Blake was already walking away, leaving the younger girl by herself.

Tanner stayed with Blake. Wanting to surprise her, he kept back a good distance waiting for the right opportunity. Blake finally sat down on a bench and pulled out a book to start reading. _This is perfect,_ Tanner thought to himself as he came up behind her. He was about to speak when...

"Did you really think I didn't see you behind that tree?" Blake never looked up from her book, but she had a big grin on her face.

"You saw me huh?" Tanner's face became bright red at his failed surprise. "I should have known. No one has ever been able to sneak up on you." He sat down next to his lifelong friend. "I never thought that I would see you again."

"It's really good to see you as well Tanner." Her yellow eye's starting to water as she smiled at her friend. The two then hugged each other in an embrace that was long overdue. "Does this mean that Emma is here as well?"

The two friend's finally broke their hold. "Ya, she's around here somewhere. I lost track of her on the ship, but I'm sure she'll pop up sooner or later."

"That's good. I'm really happy for the both of you. You seem to have done well for yourselves since we last saw each other."

"Ya, I suppose we have." Tanner paused for a moment before asking his next question. "So, If your here, does that mean that you left the White Fang?

Blake's face now donned a serious expression. "Yes, I did leave them. I finally realized that you were right all those years ago. I thought that the organization could turn itself around, but I was to optimistic. It just kept getting worse and worse! Adam kept getting worse and worse!" Blake now had tears running down her cheek's. "And then, about three weeks ago, when we were on a mission, Adam was willing to kill an entire train full of people." So I detached the cars, ensuring he couldn't harm anyone on that train, and I left."

"I'm sorry Blake. I know how you looked up to Adam, and to see him fall so far- I couldn't even imagine what was going through your head. But you got out, and from what you said, you saved alot of lives in the process. You made the right decision.

Blake wiped away the tears and looked up at Tanner. The sadness in her eye's was now replaced with joy. "Thank you Tann. You always did know how to cheer me up."

"Hey! What are friends for? But, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you." Tanner got up from the bench. "Now, we should probably be heading over to the ampitheater for our initiation speach. I'm sure there's also a certain wolf girl who would love to see you again."

The smile on Blake's face grew even wider as she stood up to start walking with Tanner. "I would love to see her as well. I'm sure we have alot to talk about."

The two of them finally reached the large theater in the middle of campus, as well as everyone else. "Now, where could she be?" Tanner said out loud as he was surveying the room.

"TANN! Over here!"

 _Well, that didn't take long,_ the faunus thought to himself as he turned to see his sister running towards him. When Emma reached them, she was practically shaking from excitement.

"Oh my god Tann, this place is amazing! It's so big! And the weapons-, oh my god the weapons that I've seen-, there so amazing, and big, and- uh"

 _Oh this isn't good! She's stuck on repeat._ Tanner seen her do this before and knew exactly how to stop it. He grabbed both of her shoulder's to get her attention. "Emma, you have to calm down or else your going to make yourself pass out again!" This seemed to snap Emma out of episode.

After taking a few deep breaths, the young wolf girl was able to respond. "Thank you Tann, that would have been embarrassing to pass out in front of all these people." With all the excitement, she didn't notice Blake standing behind her brother.

Tanner smiled down at his little sister and rubbed her head. "Yes it would have been. But seeing as you have calmed down now, check out who I ran into."

Blake stepped out from behind Tanner to face her friend. "Hi Emma." She said with a shy smile.

Tanner had never seen his sister's eye's get as big as they were now. "OH MY GOD, Blake!" Emma nearly tackled Blake to the ground with a massive bear hug. "It's been so long! I have so many questions to ask you-" Emma shifted her eye's around, surveying the room. "Not here though." She grabbed Blake by the hand and was starting to lead her to a quite corner of the room.

"And where do you think your going?" Tanner asked his sister.

"Hey, you seemed to have had some time alone with her already. Now it's my turn!" She turned and started heading for thecorner again. Blake looked back at him with a somewhat worried look.

Tanner chuckled to himself at the situation. _Good luck Blake, your going to need it._

Just then, Tanner could hear the hum of the speakers turning on. Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster of Beacon, walk up to the microphone on the stage.

"Ahem... I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

The professor stepped away from the microphone, allowing Professor Goodwhitch to take over. "You will gather in the ballrom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

 _Well, that wasn't a very motivational speech. But I suppose it is the truth,_ Tanner thought to himself. _Better than giving people false hope I guess._

Tanner spent the rest of the day mapping out the school so he wouldn't get lost when classes started up. It was already dark out by the time he made his way back to the school. The faunus made his way to the locker rooms to change into a pair of shorts and t-shirt to sleep in. When Tanner entered the ball room, he was quickly able to spot his sister and chose the sleeping bag next to her.

"Did you have fun catching up with Blake today?" He asked.

"Oh yes, we had a ton of fun. We spent most of the day just talking. Well, I did most of the talking and she just listened. She didn't seem to mind though."

"Where is she now?" Tanner asked while looking around for her.

Emma pointed to the wall across from them. "She's over by the far wall. She said that she wanted to try and get some reading in before heading to bed. Even I know not to bother her when she's trying to read. She'd claw my eyes out!" She said jokingly, but with a hint of fear.

Tanner smiled at his twin. "Well she sure hasn't changed much since we last saw her. We should get some sleep. It's going to be a big day for us tomorrow."

"Ya, I suppose your right. Good night Tann."

"Night Emma."

"The two siblings laid down and closed their eye's for some much need sleep.

 _Get a good night's rest Emma, because tomorrow, the real fun begins!_


	3. Initiation

**Authors Notes: Here is the third chapter of my series. Sorry that it took a lot longer to finish. The last couple of month's have been really hectic. But, I hope you enjoy. Review's and constructive criticism all always welcome.**

Emma was a few paces ahead of her brother, on their way to Beacon Cliff. Emma's combat attire was a little more casual than some of the other's that Tanner had seen. She was wearing hiking boots, a pair of dark grey cargo shorts and a black tank top. She also had her long silver hair tied into a ponytail to keep it out of her eye's while fighting. Emma turned back to her twin with a quizzical look. "So, what do you think they will have us doing for our initiation?"

"I have no idea. I guess we'll find out when we get there." Tanner replied.

"I suppose so." Emma turned around and continued onward.

Professor Ozpin and Glynda were already at the cliff's by the time everybody had arrived. Professor Goodwitch was the first to address the students.

"If everyone is here, we can begin. Take a place on each of the stone slabs please."

Tanner took his place at the end of the line, with Emma choosing the spot next to him.

Professor Ozpin now stepped foward to speak. "For years you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will evaluated in the Emeral Forest.

Glynda stepped forward now. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

 _Well, that's an interesting way to- wait? Did he say after landing?_ Tanner looked down at his feet and finally realized what exactly he was standing on.

After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die. You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

The blonde kid at the other end of the line spoke up. "Yeah, um sir-"

"Good! Now, take your positions." Said Ozpin, oblivious to the kid.

The young faunus bent his knees like he was about to jump, and before he knew it, he was launched into the air. _Well, this is one way to welcome new recruits._ He thought to himself, as he was hurtling through the air. Noticing the ground coming up fast, the young wolf activated his aura, creating a bubble around himself just before slamming into the earth. As the dust settled, unhurt by the landing, Tanner stood up and brushed himself off. The impact had created a crater that was at least ten feet in diameter. "Not the most graceful landing, but it got the job done," he said, before running off into the forest.

Tanner came to a stop at the edge of a clearing to gather his bearings, ear's straining to listen to his surroundings as he leaned up against a tree. _Somethings not right, it's to qui-_

With a bellowing roar, the Ursa came crashing through the tree's, charging at Tanner. The grimm took a massive swipe, but the faunus managed to jump out of the way and draw his blades. The beast turned and charged again, but Tanner was ready for it. Jumping into the air and landing on the bears back, he took his blades and plunged them in between the monster's shoulder blades. With one final roar, the Ursa collapsed into a lifeless heap. Tanner hopped off and watched as the beast evaparated into a cloud of black smoke, not noticing the second bear behind him.

With one swipe, the young faunus was sent flying into the side of a tree. Dazed but unhurt, thanks to his aura, Tanner got to his feet and locked eye's with the monster. The two circled each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. The massive bear lunged forward, raising it's front paw to strike. Tanner ducked underneath the attack, raising one of his swords and slicing the monster's limb off. Crashing to the ground, and under it's own momentum, the Ursa flipped and landed on it's back. Unable to right itself, Tanner walked over to the creature and with one clean stroke, sliced it's throat open. Hot black blood spurt out of the wound, covering Tanner's blade's and hands, evaporating almost immediately along with the body.

The faunus looked at his sword's with a disgusted look. "I'll have to remember to give you two a thorough cleaning when we get back."

Tanner started to walk away when he heard growling coming from behind. "You have got to be kidding me!" He turned just in time to see the giant Beowolf lunge at him. The faunus was knocked to the ground, the grimm now lunging for his throat. On instinct, Tanner brought his blade's up infront of his face to shield himself, but the attack never came. Tanner lowered his hands to see what had transpired. The Beowolf had collapsed to the ground, the head of a spear piercing the back of it's skull and coming through the front of it's mouth.

"You make excellent bait!" Annie removed the spear from her fallen foe, jumping off it's back and making her way over to Tanner, extending her hand to help him up. "I hope it didn't hurt you."

Tanner grasped Annie's hand and hoisted himself up. "No, just got the wind knocked out of me, thats all." He looked into her green eye and smiled. "Thank's for the save."

With the click of a button, Annie folded up her spear and attached it to her back. "Anytime." She looked around the clearing, almost expecting something else to jump out at them. "Sooo, I don't know about you, but I have had my fill of this place. Let's find this temple and get the hell out of here."

"I couldn't agree with you more." Giving her a smile, Tanner turned and led them into the forest.

Annie was a few paces behind, admiring Tanner's blades. "If you don't mind me asking, where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, Emma and I have been on our own for so long, that we've had to learn certain skills just to survive."

"Oh! If you guy's were on your own, then what happened to your parents?"

Upon hearing the question, Tanner became really quiet with a solemn look on his face. "They were both killed when we were really young."

"How did it happen?"

Tanner suddenly turned , and for a split second, Annie could have sworn that his eye's were completely red. He closed his eye's tightly, and when he opened them, they were back to their regular colour. "I'm sorry, but it's not something I like to talk about. I hope you can understand that."

Annie looked away, unable to fully comprehend what she just saw. "Of course. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

The two walked in almost complete silence until they finally reached their destination. Tanner held up his hand to signal for them to stop.

The faunus surveyed the area "It looks like we just missed all the fun." Giant black feather's were sticking into the ground, dissolving into clouds of black smoke, as well as a Deathstalker with it's tail frozen in a giant ice structure. Tanner was going to finish off the monster, but as he was about to reach for his blades, the grimm broke free and ran off into the woods. " Ok, looks like we're in the clear." As the pair made their way towards the large stone ruins at the far end of the clearing, they noticed several pedestal's lining the the interior of the structure.

"Those must be the relics we're supposed to retrieve." Annie made her way up to the temple's entrance and was finally able to make out what the items actually were. "Their Chess pieces?

Tanner walked over to the black section. "It sure look's that way."

"Which one should we choose?" Annie asked, while admiring one of the black king's.

Tanner picked up a black knight piece. "Well, when we were young, I would read to Emma every night before bed. She loved fantasy stories with dragons, magic and heroic knight's. She was drawn to the white knight hero's, but I prefered their nemesis, the black knight."

"Why was that?"

"Well, I always thought they had the more interesting back story. And plus, a hero is only ever as good as their villian."

"Knight it is then!" replied Annie with a smile. She started to look around expectantly. "So, we have to get this thing back to cliff don't we?"

"I believe that's what Ozpi..." Tanner's gaze shot up and looked at the tree line, his wolf ear's twitching.

"What's wrong?"

"Something big is coming this way!" Tanner drew his blades from his back, Annie doing the same. They were ready for whatever the forest would throw at them next.

Emma and another girl that Tanner didn't recognize, came running out of the tree's, an Ursai alpha on their tail. "Come on, they need help!" Tanner took off running, Annie following suit.

The two girl's seemed to be faster than the bear, keeping a good distance away, until Emma's partner tripped and hurt her ankle. Emma tried to help her up, but the Ursa closed the distance, leaping into the air to try and pounce on them. "Oh no! We're not going to make it!"

"I got this!" In a flash of blue light, Annie disappeared. She reappered next to the two girls, grabbed both of them, and vanished once again. The Ursa crashed into the ground, dazing itself.

"Uuum, what just happened?" Emma's voice catching Tanner off guard as he turned to see that all three girl's had appeared behind him.

"Annie, what was that?" Tanner asked, with a confused look.

"I'll be more than happy to explain, but first we need to take care of that!" Annie pointed towards the Ursa, which had recovered from it's fall and was now charging at them.

"Just leave this guy to me!" Everyone turned and looked at Emma's partner. Kneeling down on one leg, she grabbed the rifle that was attached to her back, bringing the sight's up to her eye. With a click, the gun's barrel extended to over three feet in length. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a clip and loaded it into the rifle. "Okay, just a little more, aaaand..."

As the shot rang out, the monster's head exploded, the body crashing into the earth and dissolved instantly. Everyone turned back to the sniper, astonished looks all around.

"BOOM, headshot!" The girl celebrated as she stood up, using the rifle to help gain her balance. Tanner was able to noyice the girl's attire now. She had on a pair of combat boot's, jean short's, a black crop top and a pair of fingerless leather gloves. She also had dark purple hair that was tied back into a ponytail. "I guess introductions are in order. I'm Rebecca, but my friends call me Becka."

"Hello Rebecca, my name's Tanner and this is Annie. She's the one that got you two out of there."

"Ohh, that was you?" Interrupted Emma. "How did you do that?"

All eye's turned towards Annie, anxiously awaiting her answer.

"Well, it's my semblance. I like to call it blinking. As long as I can see my destination, I am able to instantly teleport to it."

Emma's eyes grew wide with excitement. "Wow! That is so cool! I wish I hade an amaz-" Emma stopped mid sentence, her ear's twitching as she looked all around. Tanner was doing the same.

"Um, what's wrong?" Asked Rebecca, with concern. Annie had the same look.

"I think that cannon of yours may have attracted some unwanted attention. There's alot of something coming this way." Tanner turned to Emma and Becka. "Okay, you two need to grab one of the relics from the temple and we all need to get out of here!" The two girl's gave him an understanding nod and everyone took off for the temple. The pair grabbed the first piece they saw and ran back out to meet up with the other's.

Rebecca had the other black knight figure in her hand. "Ok, we got it, now let's get the hell out of here." But stopped dead in her tracks by the look of horror on Tanner's face.

"It's to late, their already here!"

The massive pack of Beowolves started pouring through the tree's, quickly surrounding the group. This was the largest gathering of grimm that any of them had ever seen. Tanner's gaze darted back and forth, frantically trying to think of a way out. Then it came to him. "Annie, can you use your power to get us to the tree's?"

"No, I can only use it on two other people at a time. That would leave one of you by yourselves, and I won't do that!"

"Well okay, then we make our stand here!" Tanner drew his weapons, as did everyone else. "Everyone, stand back to back, don't leave any blindspots. Becka, take out as many as you can!"

Rebecca dropped to her stomach and fired continuously into the oncoming horde, not missing a single target.

Annie's spear pulsed with electricity, releasing it into the nearest Beowolf, and in turn, arking to five others, frying them instantly.

Emma had her katana engulfed in flames, limbs and torsos flying everywhere as she hacked her way through another group.

Tanner activated his aura, creating a thin layer of pressurized air around his blades, which allowed him to cut through his enemies with little resistance.

Everyone was holding their own, not giving an inch, but the number of grimm was too much. It wasn't long before Tanner could tell that everyone else was exhausted. Becka had run out of rounds in her rifle and switched to dual handguns, firing wildly into the horde, Emma had extinguished her flames, unable to keep it ignited and Annie could barely hold onto her spear any longer.

"Damn, I'm out!" Becka placed both her guns back in their holster's and brought her fist's up to her face in a boxing stance, punching out a wolf that got a little to close.

The remaining grimm became cautious and fell back, waiting for the right time to strike. Annie grew worried at this outcome. "This isn't good! There's no way we can keep this up anymore. If we try to escape, they'll take us out with ease. What are we going to do?"

Tanner was thinking of way's out of this situation. _Damn it! I was hoping that I would'nt have to use this, but it looks like I don't have a choice anymore._ "Ok, I've got a plan!" The girls all turned and faced the young wolf. "If this doesn't work, promise me that you all will get back to Beacon."

"What exactly are you planning?" Asked Annie.

Emma's eyes grew big with excitement. "Oooh, are you going to use it?"

He gave his sister a quick nod.

Rebecca had a confused look on her face. "Use what?"

"Oooh you two are in for quite the show!" Emma was practically jumping up and down now.

Tanner started walking towards the grimm, but stopped when Annie grabbed his arm. "What are you doing, you can't take on that many by yourself!"

The wolf turned and locked eyes with his partner. "Annie, are you familiar with the legend's and stories of werewolves?"

"U- um, y-ya?"

"Well, have you ever wondered where they came from?" Tanner's eyes became blood red and he broke free from her grasp as a crimson aura enveloped him. Annie could only step back and watch.

Tanner began to increase in size right in front of them. Fur began growing all over his body, giant claws replaced his fingernails, his feet became giant clawed paws and his face was morphing into that of a wolf.

Before long, the three girls were all staring at Tanner, who was now transformed into a giant wolf with pure silver fur. He stood up on his hind legs and let out a bone chilling howl. The Beowolves actually seemed to be frieghtened, a couple were even trying to back away into the forest. The giant wolf noticed this, and took off with blazing speed, tearing into the nearest grimm's throat and ripping it out in the blink of an eye. Two more beast's tried to attack, but were grabbed by their heads and smashed into the ground. The bodies were then thrown into another group, knocking them all to the ground. Tanner took this opportunity and pounced, ripping off limb's and head's and tossing them aside like nothing. A couple grimm managed to get in a few good shot's, but were quickly dispatched, while the wounds would heal almost instantly. One managed to jump onto Tanner's back, back was thrown off like a ragdoll. This continued on for quite a while.

The two girls stood in shock, unable to comprehend what they were witnessing, while Emma bounced up and down, cheering her brother on.

The few surviving grimm fled back into the forest. Tanner knew he was low on energy and did not give chase. He transformed back into his human form, dropping to his knees out of exhaustion. The three girls ran to his side to help him up. Tanner lifted his gaze and gave them a weak smile. "I suppose an explanation is in order here."

Rebecca gave him a stern look, but was more curious than anything else. "Your god damn right wolf boy! Just, what are you exactly?"

"I'll be more than happy to explain everything, but we need to get out of here. It's still to dangerous and I don't think any of us would surive another fight."

Annie dropped down and put Tanner's arm around her neck. "Now, I think that is an idea we can all get behind," she said, helping her partner to his feet.

All the students who participated in the initiation were asked to report to the school infirmary for any injuries that they may have recieved. Tanner and the girl's had an entire corner to themselves. Annie closed the privacy curtains and turned to the two faunus. "Okay, so about that explanation."

Tanner, with Emma sitting beside him, looked at the other two across from him. "What you guy's saw was my semblance. Almost everybody from our bloodline has had this ability. I'm for lack of a better word, a werewolf. It increases my strength, speed and senses tenfold. It also has an increased healing factor. Any wounds I recieve are healed almost instantly. But, it takes alot of energy. I can only stay transformed for a short while."

"Wait!" Interrupted Rebecca, pointing a finger at Emma. "Does that mean that you can?"

Emma's face grew red. "Um, I-uh, I don't know. I haven't been able to unlock my semblance yet."

It was Becka's turn to blush. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Emma gave her partner a faint smile. "It's alright. I'll figure it out eventually."

"But this ability also has a dark side to it. The first time someone transforms is the most dangerous. Their not used to the power, and it's almost impossible to control."

"When was your first?" Asked Annie.

"It happened when I was just a kid. I tripped over our glass coffee table and cut my arm open. The next thing I know, I'm in my bed, the wound on my arm was gone and our father was sitting next to me. He explained to me what had happened and that I tore up our living room. Luckily I was little and not that strong, or else the damage could have been alot worse."

Annie had worried look on her face. "Are you able to stay in control of it now?"

"Yes, but there is the possibility that I could lose that control if I let my anger get the best of me. It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm scared what would happen if it does." The faunus took this time to study the two girl's. "Now that you know, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to try and find new partner's."

Both Annie and Becka looked at each other and started to laugh. Tanner had a confused look on his face.

"Do you really think that we would be that selfish, that we would abandon our partners at the first sign of a problem. Tanner, like it or not, your stuck with me.

Tanner smiled back. "Thank you."

It was Becka's turn to speak now. "And besides, you have a partner that is a genuine werewolf, and I might have one as well. How fucking cool is that? No one else can claim that, can they?"

Emma had the biggest smile and went over and gave her partner a hug. Catching Becka off guard.

"Okay, okay, don't get all girly on me!"

The other two couldn't help but give a chuckle.

Glynda's voice came on over the intercom. "Would all student's please report to the auditorium for team introductions. I repeat, would all student's please report to the auditorium for team introductions. Thank you."

As the four of them exited into the hallway, something small and red ran into Tanner. Looking down, he saw two silver eye's staring up at him. _Those eye's. They seem familiar. Where have I seen them before?_

"Oh no! I'm so sorry. I was in a hurry and I didn't see you and uhh- I'm such a clutz!" The girl looked like she was going to start crying.

This snapped Tanner back into reality. "Don't worry about it. No harm done. Just try to be a little more careful next time. Okay?"

This seemed to cheer her up some, as she gave Tanner a big smile.

"Ruby come on, we're gonna be late!" Everyone turned to see the girl with long blonde hair at the end of the hall.

"Coming sis!" Ruby turned back to Tanner. "Gotta go. See ya!" And in the blink of an eye, she was down the corridor, leaving behind a trail of rose petals.

Annie stood beside her partner. "What was that about?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"May I have your attention?" Professor Ozpins voice filled the auditorium. The room fell silent and all eye's turned to the stage. "It is my privilege to introduce to you, the sixteen new student's who will be joining us here at the academy. When I call your name's, please join me up on stage. Tanner Grey, Annie Myst, Rebecca Moon and Emma Grey."

Everyone made their way up the steps and stood side by side next to the headmaster.

"The four of you retrieved the black knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team TERA [Terra] Lead by Tanner Grey.

"Thank you sir."

"I'm expecting great things from you four."

Team TERA made their way back down the stairs. "Do you guy's think that Ozpin made the right call in making me leader?"

His teammates looked at each other and burst out laughing. Annie punched Tanner in the arm. "Of course Ozpin made the right decision. Back in the forest, whenever any of us were in trouble, you never hesitated to help. Your strategy is what kept us alive out there. And most importantly, you were willing to sacrifice yourself so that we could escape. FYI, none of us would ever leave you, so get that out of your thick head form now on! I don't think that the professor could have made any other choice."

Tanner's eye's began to water. "Thanks guy's." Everyone turned back to continue watching.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RWBY [Ruby] Lead by Ruby Rose."

Something in the back of Tanner's mind finally clicked. "That's where I've seen them before!"

Annie looked at her partner with a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"Back in the hall when she bumped into me, I thought that I saw her somewhere before, but it wasn't her." The wolf turned back to the stage, and chuckled to himself.

 _Heh heh, Ruby Rose. You look just like your mother!_


	4. Professor Gal

Tanner's hand came slaming down on his alarm clock, silencing the annoying beeping. The fuanus sat up in bed, rubbed the sand from his eye's and looked around the room that he now shared with his new team. Annie was already up and dressed in her school uniform. Emma was up as well, still in her pajama's though and trying to wake up Rebecca, but to no avail.

"Morning everyone."

"Morning," the two girls replied in unison.

Emma looked back down at the huddled mess of blanket's that was her partner, a mischevious smile creeping onto her face. Jumping into the air, she landed right on top of her teammate.

"OW!" Rebecca shot up so fast, Emma was sent flying to the floor. "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THAT HURT! HOW WOUL-"

Emma had a fightened look on her face and threw up her hand's in front of her to try and protect herself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Tanner could only laugh at this as he climbed out of bed. "Hey Annie."

"Hhm, ya?"

"I'm going to get ready, could you please make sure they don't kill each other until I get back?"

Annie gave her leader a thumb's up as he grabbed his uniform and headed into the bathroom.

After a quick shower, Tanner put on his new uniform, and was admiring it in the mirror. _You know, these uniform's arent that bad._

The faunus was dreading the scene that might await him as he opened the bathroom door, but was relieved when everything seemed calm. Emma had her hands behind her back, her eye's were enlarged and her bottom lip was sticking out.

"God damn it! Your lucky your so damn cute!" Becka was obviously frustrated at this turn of event's.

Tanner burst out laughing. "Oh my god, Emma. You actually had to break out the puppy dog eye's?"

"WHAT!? You knew about this? Hell, we could have sent her after those damn grimm yesterday with how lethal that look is!"

"Well, now that I know you two arent going pummel each other into the ground, Annie and I are going to head down to the cafeteria for breakfast. When your finished getting ready, meet us down there and we can go over our schedule's for the day."

Rebecca just waved him off. "Ya ya, whatever."

"Okay. See ya later bro."

The door clicked shut, and the two teammates took off down the hall. Tanner turned to his partner. "A word of advice, don't ever look her in the eye's when she does that face."

"Is it really that affective"

"You have no idea. Once she learns someone can be controlled with it, there is no hope for them."

"Well, I grew up with two younger sisters who got into a lot of trouble, so I like to think that I could handle it."

"There might be some hope for you after all. But we've lost Rebecca." Tanner gave her a small grin. "Her sacrifice will not be in vain." The two burst out laughing.

Before long, they had made it to the dining hall. The large room was packed. There was a buzz in the air from the constant noise of student's conversing, excited for the first day of classes.

The partners quickly grabbed two trays each and got in line. They got their meal's, as well as two extra's for their teammates, and found an empty table near the entrance and sat down. As they were about to start eating, the other half of their team entered. Tanner caught their attention and waved them over.

"Hey guy's, over here."

"Hey Tann! Oh, you already got us food? Thank you."

"Ya, thanks."

Rebecca was fidgeting with the red ribbon around her collar as she took her seat, causing Annie to give a curious look. "Everything all right there Becka?"

"Ugh, it's this damn uniform. Why do they have to be so girly?"

"I think their kinda cute." Replied Emma with a soft smile.

"How can you be so happy all the time?"

"Well, someone has to." She said with a wink.

"Okay, okay, we should probably eat. We don't want to be late for our first class." Tanner interjected.

"So, what is our first lesson?" Asked Becka

"It look's like the class is called Properties of Dust and Aura with Professor Gal."

Annie was caught off guard when she heard the name. "That's not Professor Ben Gal is it?"

"Yes it is. Why do you ask?"

"You mean you've never heard of him?"

The other three gave each other a confused look. "Should we have?" replied Emma.

Annie got annoyed at their ignorance. "He's only one of Remnants leading authorities on Dust. His research even got the attention of Atlas. They tried to recruit him for their R&D department, but were turned down. Gal told them that his research would never be used to make weapons, and that they should look somewhere else."

Becka seemed impressed with this. "He sounds like a real badass to turn down Atlas like that."

"He is!" Standing up, Annie grabbed Tanner's wrist, yanking him to his feet. "Come on, let's go!"

"Calm down, we still have twenty minutes."

"I know. I just want to get good seat's," dragging her leader out of the dining hall and into the hallway.

"Should we go after them?" Asked Emma.

"In a bit, I'm still hungry."

The classroom was completey empty, to Tanner's annoyance. "You see, you didn't have to rush here and dislocate my wrist like that."

"Quit your whining. Your wrist be good as new in no time." She quickly took a seat in the first row. Tanner reluctantly sitting beside her.

Fifteen minutes had past when they were finally joined by the rest of their team, who sat down next to them. Team CRDL were the next ones to arrive, choosing to sit at the back of the class, a look of disgust on their leader's face as he noticed the twins. Tanner paid it no mind, as he was used to those kind's of looks.

The door leading to the adjacent office flew open, in walking the professor. He was big, definately a body builder type, looking like he could strangle an Ursa with his bare hands. He wore a pair of black leather shoes, dark blue dress pants and a simple black T-shirt that showed off his impressive build. He had short black hair and golden orange eye's. Gal also had four different colored stripes tattooed onto both of his massive forearms. As he walked into the classroom, all eyes went directly to his extra feature. The professor had a long white tail with black stripes.

"Annie, you didn't tell us he was a fuanus."

"I didn't know. Nothing I ever read said he was."

Tanner turned his attention back to their teacher. _I've met plenty of tiger faunus over the years, but never a white tiger._ The leader was snapped out of his thoughts by their professor clearing his throat.

"Ahem. Hello class." The professor's voice was very deep and raspy. "I am professor Gal. I will be your teacher for-" The professor stopped, looking up from his paper's and glancing around the room. "Does anyone know where the rest of your classmates are?"

Everyone was giving each other a confused look when the door burst open, in pouring the missing teams.

"Ah, teams RWBY and JNPR. How nice of you to grace us with your presence."

"Sorry we're late," the young silver eyed leader said nervously.

"Just hurry up and take your seats so we can begin."

Once everyone was seated, the professor started agian. "As I was saying, I am professor Gal and I will be your instructor on the properties of dust for the remainder of your time here at Beacon. I have watched and reviewed your progress from the Emerald Forest, and I have to say that I am impressed with the level of competency that most of you possess."

An excited murmur spread through the classroom with all the students silently congratulating themselves.

"BUT, every last one of you as it stands right now, will fail my class!" The cheery atmosphere was immediately extinguised, with everyone now listening very carefully to their instructor. "You all lack control over your aura, which in turn, causes you to use up to much of it. In a prolonged fight, this will lead to your defeat, or worse. I intend to rectify this problem. By the end of this course, you will all have the knowledge to be able to utilize dust's fullest potential, using as little energy as possible. In order to obtain this, we will be going back to the basics. Now, can anyone tell me the four basic forms of dust that are found in nature?"

Emma's hand shot up, as well as a few other's.

"Yes, Miss Grey is it?

"Yes sir, the four basic forms of dust are fire, water, lightning and wind."

"Very good. Now, there are also several sub classes of dust, some of which inc-" The professor was cut off when he heard snickering coming from the back row. Everyone turned to see team CRDL bent over in fits of laughter. "Mr Winchestor, what could possibly be so funny that you would decide to interrupt my class?"

Cardin calmed down enough to start talking. "Well, I was going to make a joke about her being a teacher's pet, but then I realized that the teacher was a pet as well." The whole team went back to laughing.

Emma slammed both her hands down on her desk and stood up to face Cardin. "Your just a bully. Someone who thinks they can use their size to intimidate those who are smaller. But your just a coward!"

"What!? You want a piece of me you mutt!?"

"THATS ENOUGH!" Professor Gal bellowed, startling everybody. "There will be no fighting in my classroom." Once the class settled down, he continued. "But, I can tell that there is alot of tension between the two of you. So, I propose a friendly sparring match between the two of you to relieve some of your, pent up frustration. Are their any objections?"

"No sir, sounds good to me," replied Emma.

"Ya, it should be fun to knock her off her high horse."

"Okay, then it's settled. We will be relocating to the arena for the remainder of the class. You two will head to the locker rooms to get ready."

As everyone stood up, Rebecca grabbed Emma's arm to stop her from leaving. "What the hell was that? I've never seen you that angry, even when we were fighting those grimm yesterday."

Emma was shaking out of frustration. "All our lives, we have had to deal with jerks like him. Tann always told me to pay them no mind, that ther weren't worth a second thought. And for a while, it worked. But it never really stopped. Then, we were accepted into Beacon and I thought maybe, just maybe that we found a place that we wouldn't be discriminated against, but I guess I was wrong." Emma's ears laid flat against the top of her head, tears running down her cheeks. Before the little wolf realized it, she was embraced by Annie in a warming hug. Emma was startled by the sudden contact at first, but quickly reciprocated the kind gesture.

"I'm so sorry Emma, I never realized how tough being a faunus must be. I don't know how you've done it."

The two girls broke from their embrace. "I've always had my brother there to help me through it. Whenever I got really upset, he would be the one to calm me down, reassuring me that not every human shared the same feelings as them. It never seemed to bother him."

Rebecca grabbed Emma's wrist and started dragging her down the hall. "Well, now's your chance to grow some claws and kick this bastards ass all over the school. Come on, I'll go with you to get changed and make sure that douche doesn't try anything."

* * *

The two opponents stood facing each other. Emma had her regular combat outfit and Cardin had donned a full set of plate armor, with the crest of a bird on his chest piece. As everyone was waiting for the match to begin, Blake had made her way over to Tanner.

"So, how badly do you think Emma is going to beat this idiot?"

"I don't know. There's no question that she will win, but by how much is up in the air." The two friends shared a laugh as Professor Gal moved to the center of the ring.

"This will be a friendly competition. The winner of the match will be decided when their opponent's aura level drops into the red. Any and all attempts to seriously injure their opponent will be met with severe consequences. Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes sir!"

"Ya, I got it."

"Alright, if both combatents are set, the match will begin on my mark. Three, two, one, BEGIN!"

Cardin was the first to move, charging Emma at full speed, his giant mace above his head. He brought his weapon down with an overhand swing, but was met with only ground as Emma easily sidestepped the attack. The young wolf quickly went on the offensive, taking her katana and swinging at her opponents chest. With a loud clang, her blade merely bounced off of the plate armor, catching her off guard for a split second. Cardin took advantage of the distraction, swinging his mace up and catching the faunus in the chin, sending her flying back several yards and crashing to the ground.

"Ha! Not so high and mighty now are ya?!"

Emma quickly stood up, giving her opponent a sly grin. "Heh, I'm just getting started." With blinding speed, she dashed forward, catching the boy off guard. Once in close, she slashed at the exposed joints on the back of Cardins knees.

"AHH! Why you little..." He swung his mace around, trying to score another hit. But Emma was able to dodge the attack and countered with a few strikes to the elbow and midsection. "QUIT MOVING SO I CAN HIT YOU!" Frustration clearly taking over as Cardin swung the massive mace around blindly, unable to land a single blow. "Ugh, THAT'S IT!" With massive force, Cardin slammed his weapon into the ground, breaking apart the floor of the arena and sending out tremors from the epicentre. The attack took Emma by surprise, causing her to stumble as the ground shook violently. Cardin saw an opening and took it. Running full speed at her and swinging his mace like a bat, he was able to make contact with her midsection.

Emma landed hard on her back. With barely enough time to get back on her feet, another attack came her way. This time she was able to block it, their weapons locking in a struggle for dominance. "You should give up mutt. There's no way a dog like you can beat me!"

"You ignorant, close minded rascist! I'm not a dog! I'm a wolf!" Emma stepped to the side and let Cardins weight carry him forward. As he stumbled, Emma struck the back of his head with the hilt of her sword. Cardin whirled around, only to be blinded by the flames emanating from the katana. Before he could react, Emma struck his midsection with her sword, sending the boy flying back and crashing to the ground. As Cardin struggled to get up, Emma placed her foot on his chest, the tip of her sword pointed at his throat.

"Congratulations Miss Grey on that impressive victory." Professor Gal moved back to the center of the arena, which was now mostly rubble. "Both of you performed exceptionaly well."

Cheering could be heard from most of the class, except for the rest of team CRDL, who were in complete shock at the outcome.

Emma seathed her sword and walked away from her defeated opponent.

"YOU BITCH!"

Emma only had enough time to turn around and see the mace coming straight for her head. Tanner and the rest of the team saw the attack happening and were ready to intervene. But before anyone could make a move, Professor Gal beat them to it. He had grabbed Cardins wrist just in time to stop his weapon from finding it's mark.

The room went so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"Ugh, let go of me you filthy faunus!"

The yellow stripe on the Professor's arm started to glow, sending sparks of electricity up through his arm and into Cardin's. The boy screamed in pain, dropping his mace and falling to his knees. Without letting go of the boy's wrist, Gal moved his right hand to Cardin's shoulder guard, crushing it like a soda can.

"My, my father will hear about this!" Cardin stammered, fear taking control of him.

"No, I don't think so. Call it a hunch, but I don't think that you want it getting out that you were bested by a faunus." Professor Gal yanked Cardin back to his feet. "Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. THIS GOES FOR THE REST OF YOU AS WELL! If I catch anyone trying to maliciously attack another class member again, I will personally put them on a ship out of beacon. Today is your first and only warning on this matter." His eye's narrowed back down to Cardin's. "Do I make myself clear?!"

"Y-yes sir."

"Good!" The professor let go of the boy's wrist, who started rubbing it to relieve some of the pain. "You should probably head down to the blacksmith and get that shoulder piece repaired. We can't have a huntsman in training with faulty equipment now. I'll let Professor Goodwitch know that you will not be attending her next class."

Cardin scooped up his mace and ran out of the arena. His teammates in tow.

"Miss Grey!"

Emma tensed up as she heard her name. "Yes sir?"

"You did very well in the fight. But just because a fight is finished, doesn't mean it's over. Turning your back on an opponent like you did is usually a fatal error and I don't want to see that happen to any of my student's.

"I understand sir, It won't happen again."

"Glad to hear it." The professor glanced at his watch. "Well, that just about wraps things up for today. Be sure to bring your weapons to class tomorrow. I wish to learn more about them and yourselves." With those final words, the professor turned and walked out of the arena.

The rest of team TERA ran over to Emma.

"Are you ok?" Asked Tanner

"Ya, ya I'm fine. Just a little tired is all." The team moved to one of the free benches and sat down. Blake came over and joined them soon after.

"Emma, that was incredible. You certainly have grown in the last few years."

Emma looked up into her amber eyes. "Thanks Blake. But it looks like I still have alot to learn."

"Well if Cardin ever gives you anymore trouble, just come get me."

"Will do!"

Blake left to rejoin her own team.

Emma turned to her partner. "Hey Becka?"

"Hhm?"

"You remember at breakfast when you said that the Professor sounded like a badass? I think that statement kind of undersells him."

 **Authors Notes: I originally had Tanner fighting Cardin during initiation in the last chapter. But I ended up scrapping it in order to give this moment to Emma. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are always welcome.**


	5. Fire and Metal

**Authors Notes: This is just a little filler chapter. I haven't had much time to write this month but thought I should get something out. Hope you enjoy and reviews are always welcome.**

With a flick of her riding crop, Professor Goodwitch reassembled the broken arena, making it look like the fight with Cardin never happened. As she finished, Glynda turned to address the class.

"Hello children, and welcome to combat training. The skills you will learn in this class will ensure that you have the best chance of staying alive once you graduate, so it would be in your best interest to pay attention. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" Replied the entire class in unison.

"Good. Now, for the first year of this class, you will be facing off against each other, as well as Grimm that we have captured. These matches will simulate real life scenarios that you may face when on missions. Each one having a stipulation that I will implement right before the match takes place. These may include neither opponent having the use of a weapon, no use of your semblance or dust. Some participant's may even find themselves facing off against more than one opponent. These are to ensure that everyone of you are ready for the real world once you graduate. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Excellent! Let's not waste anymore time and get the first match underway."

The crowd grew excited with anticipation on who would be chosen first.

"Yang Xiao Long and Rebecca Moon, please step forward."

Rebecca was elated to be in the first fight, giving Emma a fist bump as she headed for the ring. "Alright, time to kick some butt."

As the two girls faced each other, Glynda stepped to the centre of the arena. "This will be a hand to hand match. No weapons."

With a disappointed look, Rebecca removed both her hand guns and rifle to set them aside, Yang doing the same with her gauntlets.

"Good. Now, if you are ready, you may begin on my mark."

Yang brought both her fists up in a boxing stance, Rebecca doing the same, both ready for the fight to begin.

"Three, two, one, begin!"

Yang was the first to attack, throwing punches every which way, hoping for a quick victory. Rebecca was able to dodge these initial attacks with ease, countering with her own jabs, one managing to land square on her opponents jaw. This didn't seem to have much of an effect on the blonde brawler though, as she plowed through hit after hit in order to reach her target. Yang grabbed Rebecca's arm, spinning around and bringing her leg up, connecting with her opponents chin and knocking her to the ground.

"Ugh. It seem's that I may have underestimated you." Rebecca got back to her feet, ready for another go.

The blonde smirked. "You're not the first person who's made that mistake."

Round two started off hot, with the violet haired fighter rushing the blonde with a flurry of punches, each one either being dodged or blocked with ease. Rebecca, getting flustered, decided to change up her approach. As the two girls locked up, Rebecca took her leg and swept it under Yangs feet, tripping up the blonde and hitting the ground, followed by an elbow to the brawlers rib cage.

"Come on Yang, you can do it." The young red hooded leader yelled, cheering her sister on.

The blonde staggered back to her feet. "Now your just playing dirty." She said with a smirk. "Not bad." With a burst of energy, Yang propelled herself forward, hoping to end the fight with one final punch.

With no time to dodge it, Rebecca raised both her arms in an attempt to shield herself from the attack.

The sound of flesh hitting metal rang out through the arena as the blonde stumbled back, holding her hand in pain. "Ow, what the hell?" Her eyes darted back to her opponent, surprised at the sight that greeted her.

Both of Rebecca's arms were metallic in color. Lowering them down to her side, an evil grin crept across her face. "Do you like my little trick? I can turn any part of my body to steel. Comes in real handy during a fight like this, wouldn't you say?"

"YA! You go Becka!" Emma cheering on her partner.

Yang jokingly placed her hand over her chest. "Ooh, confident and full of dirty tricks. Your a girl after my own heart." Her face becoming serious now. "But, business before pleasure." With a loud cry, Yang leapt at the purple haired girl, throwing another punch, which was caught by Rebecca, who used her free hand to strike back. The metal hand hitting the brawler's face with a sickening crunch.

Yang, clearly low on stamina, dropped to one knee and was breathing heavily.

Rebecca, also exhausted from the fight, knew she had to end it quickly. Before she could deliver the final blow, the blonde stood back up with a mischievous grin of her own.

"I think it's time I turned up the heat!" Slamming both her fist's together, flames erupted from all around her.

The very air burned Rebecca's lungs as she tried to breathe. Even the spectators could feel the intense heat. But, what really took her by surprise were the blondes eye's. The once lilac orbs were now bright red and full of anger.

"Well, shall we dance?" With an incredible burst of power, Yang launched herself forward, Rebecca doing the same. A flamming punch from the blonde made contact with the jaw of the gunner, as well as the steel fist of Rebecca striking Yang's chin.

Both of the combatants fell to the ground, unable to move. The flames surrounding the blonde died off and Rebeccas skin returned to normal.

"And that's the match!" Professor Goodwitch made her way back into the arena. "We have a tie!

The crowd erupted in applause at the awsome display that they witnessed.

"Well done both of you." Glynda looked back and forth between the two girls sprawled out on the floor. "I hope you didn't hurt yourselves to badly."

Rebecca raised her arm straight up, giving a thumbs up indicating she was alright.

"Never better teach!" Yang struggled to stand back up. "Damn! I'm gonna be sore tomorrow."

"Hey blondie!"

Yang turned to see the purple haired girl stand up and walk towards her. Stopping right in front of the blonde, starring into the lilac eyes, Rebecca stuck out her hand.

"You are one tough bitch!"

The biggest grin appeared on the brawlers face as she grasped her opponents hand, being pulled into a tight embrace.

"I definately want a rematch in the future. And you better believe that it won't end in a tie."

"I suppose I better STEEL myself for the occasion then!"

Rebecca burst out laughing. "Oh, I like you!"

The two girls broke apart, returning to the respective teams.

"Oh my god Becka, that was amazing!" Emma was ecstatic over the match she just witnessed, but also a little worried. "Are you okay? It looked like you got seriously hurt there."

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I can't even remember the last time I've had that much fun." Rebecca went to give her partner a high five, grimacing as she tried to move her arm. "I don't think I'll be moving around alot tomorrow though."

Tanner walked over to his teamate, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You should probably take it easy for the next few day's. We don't want you to seriously injure yourself."

"I should be alright. This wasn't the first scrap I've been in."

"Children, may I have your attention?"

Everyone gave their full attention back to Professor Goodwitch.

"I hope you all realize that these matches aren't designed to see who is better than who, but rather to test yourselves. To push beyond the limits you have set, adopting new strategies for different situations, learning from your past mistakes as to not repeat them and placing trust in your team. When your out in the field, the greatest advantage you will have are the people standing next to you. "Now, Beacon is equipped with a state of the art training facility. Any team that wishes to use the facility only needs to put in the day and time on their scroll's."

Half the room took out their scroll's and attempted to sign up for the room, but only received an error message.

"Nice try, but that is not available yet. I will be unlocking that feature at the end of the day as to ensure everyone get's an equal opportunity to sign up." Glynda looked out at the sea of dissapointed faces, nearly cracking a smile. "We also have a fully equipped gym that is open to anyone who want's to use it. No signup is needed and is open all day and night.

"With all that being said, I believe we have time for one more match. So, who would like to go next?"


	6. A Night Out

**Authors Notes: Here is my latest chapter. Sorry for the long wait on this one. A combination of writer's block and personal stuff. But I hope you enjoy. As usual, reviews are always welcome.**

"UGH! I can't take it anymore!" Rebacca stood up, slamming both hand's down on the table with a loud thud, attracting the attention of Mrs Prynne, the school librarian.

"Young lady! If you cannot keep quiet I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Sorry ma'am. It won't happen again."

Mrs Prynne turned and stormed back to her desk. "See that it doesn't!"

Tanner was getting annoyed at the situation. "What's the problem now Becka?"

"It's Ooblecks stupid history exam. I can't get my head around it."

"But, you've been doing fine in class for the last three month's. Why are you starting to get confused now?"

"I don't know. It must be the stress from all the other finals. I can't think straight."

"You've aced every other final that we've had. There's no reason you won't with this one as well." Interjected Emma.

"Who are you kidding? We all know that I barely passed Grimm Studies!"

The young faunus raised both her hands in defeat. "Hey, I was just trying to cheer you up. If you want to keep beating yourself up, fine by me."

"Hey guys!" Yang approached the table, followed by Ruby and Blake. "HOWL'S it going today!"

Tanner rolled his eye's at the terrible pun. "I suppose I should be grateful that you finally stopped with the dog jokes."

The blonde gave the wolf a sly smirk and the three newcomers took a seat. "So, what's up?"

"Becka's just freaking out over our upcoming history exam," spat Annie, clearly annoyed from having her studies interupted.

"Oh?! You too? Oobleck is the worst isn't he? Why does he have to..."

Tanner looked around the table, noticing they were one person short. "Where's Weiss?"

The young silver eyed leader spoke up. "Well, she was sort of driving Yang crazy. I was afraid that if I didn't seperate the two of them that someone was either going to get stabbed or punched."

"She going overboard with studying?"

It was Blake's turn to speak up. "Yes, but thats not the only reason. There's also the hole Vytal Festival thing. Weiss has been planning out every little detail for us to do in advance. You should see the huge binder she has for it. She's also dragging us all down to the dock's tomorrow afternoon for some reason, but she won't say why."

"Well, at least she's not forcing you to study." Rebecca turned towards her leader. "Can I please go shoot something, or hit something or anything else besides this?"

Tanner let out a long sigh. "Alright. I think that we all need a break from school work anyways."

"Thank the gods!" Rebecca grabbed her partners wrist, yanking her to her feet. "Come on Emm, let's go have some fun." Before Emma could protest, they were gone.

"Man. She really doesn't like studying, does she?" Ruby's gaze lingered on the two girls as they made their exit.

"She's alot like your sister in that regard."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean wolf boy?" The blonde blurted out, acting all offended.

"Am I wrong? Please tell me if I'm wrong!"

Yang was about to speak, but couldn't think of a good comeback, opting instead to sulk in silence.

The amber eye's of Blake were wide with surprise. "Wow! No one's ever been able to make her stop talking like that."

Yang shot her partner a death glare, who responded by tilting her head to the side and smiling. The blonde turned away. "Your lucky your cute!" Being muttered under her breath, unbeknownst to her that she could be heard by the two Faunus.

Tanner turned to his own partner, who still had her nose in a history book. "Ann, when I said we needed a break, that included you."

"But I..."

"No but's! At this rate, your going to burn yourself out, and that won't be good for anybody.

"Just a few more minutes?"

"Don't make me pull rank here!"

Annie breathed a sigh of defeat. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?"

"Tanner smiled at her. "No your not! Now come on. I'm taking you out to dinner to relax."

Giving her leader a small grin, Annie stood up. "Okay let's go." The two turned to team RWBY. "See you guys later."

"Bye." Responded Ruby, Blake waving them off.

"Be careful not to WOLF down your food to fast now!" Said the blonde with a triumphant smile on her face.

Blake could only shake her head in annoyance. "God's damnit Yang! That one was bad, even for you."

* * *

The street's of Vale were busy with activity in anticipation for the Vytal Festival. Student's were enjoying the week off during exams as well as shopkeeper's decorating the outside of their store's. Annie kept her head on a swivel, eye's wide with excitement at all the sights. Tanner couldn't help but smirk in amusement. "You seem rather excited!"

"How can you not be? It's the Vytal Festival! A chance to experience the cultures of the other kingdoms. Art and theatre from Mistral as well as the technological advancements of Atlas."

"What about Vacuo?"

"Well, let's just say they know how to party." The two shared a laugh at this.

"Have you been to the festival before?" Asked the young wolf.

"Ya! I was nine the last time it was in Vale. I remember that it was one of the best experiences of my life. But we weren't able to attend the tournament itself, which sucked. What about you, have you and Emma ever attended?"

"Unfortunately no. Due to our situation at the time, we couldn't afford to go."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said with a sombre look, but quickly turning joyful. "But hey, at least you have a chance to actually be apart of it this year."

Tanner couldn't help but smile back at his teammate. "I suppose your right." The young wolf's gaze was suddenly drawn to the building that lay in front of them. "We're here!"

Annie's eyes immediately went to the massive sign above the entrance. "Menagerie's Finest? I've never heard of this place before."

"Well they don't really advertise that much, but the food is delicious. They specialize in tropical dishes from the island of Menagerie."

"I don't know. I'm not used to that kind of food. I don't know if I would like it."

"Trust me. I guarantee that you will love it."

"Okay." She replied with a soft smile as Tanner held the door open for her.

* * *

The sun was starting to set as the two teammates exited the restaurant.

"Oh! It's getting dark. We should hurry before the last airship leaves for Beacon."

"Don't worry, we still have plenty of time." Tanner's face lit up as he formed an idea. "Have you ever seen the ocean at sunset?"

The blue haired girl gave her leader a confused look. "No. I can't say that it's ever been anything I was interested in."

"Well that settles it. I'm taking you to the pier to witness it."

"My, my. I had no idea you were such a romantic. I suppose you like long walks on the beach as well!"

Tanner looked over and gave his partner a sly grin. "Hardly! I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

Annie responded with a look of total shock and repulsion. "Please tell me you did NOT just quote that horrible movie."

"What if I did," playfully shoving her as he said it.

"Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf herder!"

"Who's scruffy-looking?" The pair burst out laughing, unable to keep straight faces. The two of them kept on joking around as they made their way to the docks. Tanner could here the water just around the last corner. "Close your eye's and don't open until I tell you."

"What?! No way! I'm not closing me eye's!"

"Please! Do it for me. I'll be right here to guide you."

Annie gave her leader a frustated look. "Fine! But if I trip, I swear I'm going to punch you!"

Tanner took her hands into his own as to reassure her that she was safe. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you." She couldn't explain why, but she felt safe in her partners grasp and finally closed her eye's. Tanner led her down the quiet street, the silence giving way to the sound of waves breaking. The feel of concrete beneath her feet changing to wood. Soon after, the pair stopped. "Okay, you can open now."

"Oh my!" were the only words that she could find to describe the scene before her. The sun had just started going down beyond the horizon, turning the sky and water brilliant shades of orange and red, waves crashing against the cliff's that adorned the northern edge of the city as well as the scent of salt water all culminating together in the picturesque scene.

"I may not like walks along the beach, but I've always been a sucker for sunsets like these."

Annie joined her leader at the edge of the pier, leaning over the wooden railing. "Thank you for today." The two of them stood in silence, watching the sun sink lower and lower into the water.

Tanner noticed that the stars were now starting to make an appearance in the fading light. "We should go, or else we may actually miss our flight." Neither one of them wanted the moment to end, but knew they did not want to be stranded in the city over night. The partners made their way back down the same street, but Tanner stopped suddenly, his wolf ears twitching at the sound of shattering glass.

"What is it?" Annie couldn't hear and was confused by the sudden stop.

"This way!" The two sprinted off towards the commotion, coming to the end of the road and finally seeing the source of the noise.

"What's going on?"

The door to one of the shop's had been kicked in. "That dust shop is being robbed by someone."

Annie reached for her scroll and started dialing. "I'm calling the police!"

Tanner kept an eye on the store, making sure no one left. One of the robber's came into view, the faunus clearly making out the image of a red wolf and three claw marks. "Oh no!"

"What is it?"

"Are the police coming?"

"Yes, but it's going to take them five minutes to get here."

"They won't make it in time." Taking out his own scroll, Tanner typed in two codes and placed it back in his pocket.

"Who are they?!"

"It's the White Fang! They'll be long gone by the time the police arrive. We have to try and stall them until then."

"How are we suppoosed to do that?" As the words left her mouth, two lockers crashed into the ground right behind them, opening up to reveal their weapons. They grabbed their weapons and immediately made their way towards the shop, being as stealthy as possible as to not draw any attention to early. Sounds of breaking glass could be heard inside from the display cases being broken into, as well as a single male voice giving out commands.

"Could you idiots possibly make any more noise! It's a wonder we haven't been discovered yet! Now, how about we pick up the pace and get the hell out of here!" Tanner peered inside to see how the voice belonged to. The man had a black bowler hat on which covered bright orange hair, a white jacket with black pants and a cane that he swung around, seemingly trying to hit one of his subordinates.

 _Something's not right here, but what is..._ "Annie!" whispering to his partner, she turned to face him. "He's a human!"

Annie was confused at the statement at first, but quickly realized what he was talking about. "But I thought the White Fang hate humans. Why are they taking orders from one?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" The teammates made their way into the building. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" All eye's turned towards the newcomers, drawing weapons of their own.

"Oh for fuck sakes! What is with the kid's in this damn city?!" The man with the cane eyed the two student's. "Look kids, as amusing as this is, I have a dead line to keep, so if you could go play cop's and robber's someplace else, I would really appreciate it!"

There was a fire behind the wolf's eye's. "We're not going to let you do that!"

"Well, have it your way. MURINA! Get your ass down here and take care of these two!"

"You don't have to yell you bastard! I can hear just fine!" Both Annie and Tanner were fozen in shock. The woman's voice came from directly behind them.

 _What the hell?! Only one person has ever been able to sneak up on me._

The mystery woman grabbed both of them by the shoulder and launched them backwards through the broken window. Rolling into the street, the two quickly recovered and stood back up to get a better look at the new player. The woman came strolling out of the shop, covered head to toe in black, even the Grimm mask that was usually white was black with the red markings. Long dark red hair was tried back into a long ponytail that ran down the length of her back. But her most prominant feature were the two very large pointed ears jutting out from the top of her head.

Upon seeing those ear's, Tanner knew axactly what they were facing, and it scared him. "This isn't good. She's a bat Faunus.

"What difference does that make. She's just another criminal."

"No she isn't! The White Fang employ them as assasins and spies."

Annie was shocked at the realization. "I didn't even know they had assasins."

"That's how good they are!"

An evil grin crept across the assasins face. "Now that is quite interesting that you would know that. Not alot of people outside of the organization know that little detail. And the ones who do generally don't last very long. I'm curious about how you came across it."

"Tanner? What does she mean by that?"

"She's trying to play mind games with us." Turning back to his opponent, the wolf started asking his own questions. "Why is the White Fang taking order's from a human."

"Call it a joint business venture. The man may be a total ass, but he get's the job done. But enough about that, let me introduce myself. My name's Murina Suilla, and I'm afraid that you two are about to have a really bad day." She looked back and forth between the two, the smile from her face fading. "Look, I really don't want to add a couple of kids to my resume, so I'm going to give you one chance to turn around and leave."

Annie pointed the end of her spear towards Murina, ready for a fight. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen!"

"Then I am truly sorry." In the blink of an eye, she was gone, moving to fast for either of them to see. Before Tanner could register what happened, he was struck from behind, being sent through one of the shop's windows, glass shattering everywhere.

"TANNER!" Annie cried out before turning towards the bat, anger flooding her eye's. She activated Gilded Thorn, sparks crackling from the tip and sending out a bolt of lightning towards the Faunus. Instead of dodging, Murina raised her arm to block the attack, the electricity being absorbed by a black armband that adorned her forearm. "WHAT?! No one can block that much electicity!"

"My dear. I can do so much more than that." The armband sparked as she hurled the bolt of lightning right back at Annie. Using her spear as a lightning rod, the electricity was absorbed back into the weapon.

"Then how about this!" The spear head now glowing bright red, a vortex of fire shooting out, ready to engulf the assassin. Just like the last time, Murina's armband absorbed the fire as well. Annie was ready for the counter attack, but it never came. Instead, the Faunus transferred the energy to a black dagger that she seemingly pulled out of nowhere, the blade turning a bright red.

"YOU BITCH!" Tanner jumped at her, red overtaking his eye's. Murina easily sidestepped the wolf.

"Oh?! That's rich coming from you kid!"

The wolf was seething now, every word, every move the bat made caused him to lose himself. "You people have turned the White Fang into a disgrace! I am going to bring an end to it!" Annie was shocked. She had never seen her leader so overcome with anger before. It scared her right to the core.

"If you think your up to the task pup, I'm right here! What are you waiting for?"

"TANNER DON'T! IT'S A TRAP!" Annie's words fell on deaf ear's, Tanner was far to gone to reason with. The wolf lunged forward, both blades ready to strike. Murina stood her ground as Tanner closed the gap. He swung his swords as she came within range, two flashes of red were all that could be seen as Murina sliced right through both of the wolf's swords with her dagger, the blades fell to the ground as Tanner was left holding two broken hilts. The dagger was then plunged deep into Tanner's shoulder, bypassing his aura and burning the skin. The young wolf screamed out in pain, eye's wide with fear has he finally realized the mistake he made. Murina pulled the dagger out, the extreme heat from the blade causing the wound to cauterize instantly.

Disappearing in a puff of pink smoke, Annie reemerged behind her target, ready to strike with Gilded Thorn. Murina easily grabbed the spear from Annie's hands, tossing it to the side before grabbing her by the neck and lifting her off the ground. The angerwas still present in her eye's. "Go to hell!"

The smile on Murina's face faltered. "I warned you two that I didn't want to do th..."

"LET HER GO!" Tanner's semblance now taking over, his wolf form materializing around him.

Murina took a couple steps back in surprise, not expecting this situation. "My, my! Now that's a neat trick! But your still outmatched here kid!" Tightening her grip around Annie's throat, she brought the red knife up to her face, mere inches away from her eye's. "I don't know if you can still understand me in that form, but if you don't want me to burn the eye's right out of her head, I suggest you turn back and surrender!"

"N... No... Please! You don't have to do this!" Annie pleaded with the bat Faunus, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the blade, tears now running down her cheeks.

"I'm afraid that's up to him now!"

The wolf Faunus roared in frustration. "Don't! You win!" The word's were barely more than a growl, but the panick behind them was clearly audible. Tanner dropped to his knees, the wolf form slowly dissipating. Once back to normal, he raised his head towards the woman who had bested them, tears flowing from his eye's. "Ple... Please. Le... Let her go."

A sinister smirk crept across Murina's face. "Now that's a good boy!" With the flick of her wrist, Annie was thrown at the wall behind the wolf. Tanner dove to try and save his friend, managing to succesfully catch her, but the momentum still propelled them into the side of the building. Annie was knocked out and Tanner clutched at his side which was in tremendous pain. Murina now stood over top of them, her ears twitching at the sound of police sirens coming ever closer. She knelt down in front of the wolf. "I like you kid, I really do! You have talent! But you let your anger get the better of you! So let me give you some free advice! If you value the lives of your friends and loved ones, then stay out of our way!" The bat Faunus stood up, now towering over the two of them. The last thing Tanner remembered was her foot coming down on his face.

* * *

Tanner's eye's slowly opened, a bright light temporarily blinding him. He tried to lift his arm to shield his gaze, but winced in pain, his hand returning to his side which was now bandaged up. The young wolf sat up in the hospital bed, allowing his eye's to adjust to the light. The door to his room opened, in walking who Tanner could only assume was his doctor. The man closed the door and noticed that Tanner was up. "Good, your awake!"

"What's going on?"

"I'm just here to do a quick checkup. So, how are you feeling?"

The Faunus grabbed the side of his head. "I have the worst headache and my side feels like it's on fire."

"You've suffered three fractured ribs, as well as a concussion. You also had multiple skin lacerations, but your aura has already taken care of those. We're going to keep you here overnight for observation, but you should be good to go tommorow."

"What about my friend?"

"Ah yes. Miss Myst also suffered a minor concussion, as well as several lacerations. But she has already made a full recovery." Tanner breathed a sigh of relief at hearing his partner was alright. "I've already discharged her, but she refuses to leave without you."

"Is she able to come visit?"

"Yes, but before I can allow that, there is someone here who would like to speak with you." The doctor left the room, closing the door behind him. A few minutes went by before the door opened again, in walking professor Ozpin.

"Mister Grey! It's good to see that your making a fast recovery!"

Tanner was obviously surprised at the headmaster's appearance. "Professor?! I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

"Well, when I heard that two of my student's were hurt trying to prevent a robbery, I was obviously concerned. But I'm afraid this isn't a social call." Ozpin sat down in the chair next to the bed. "I'm conducting my own investigation into the incident. Now, could you tell me in your own words what happened?"

"Tanner strained against the pain in his head, trying to remember everything that happened. "Annie and I were heading back to the airship when I heard the commotion. We went to see what happened and that's when I was able to see that they were White Fang."

"I see. Please continue."

"Annie called the police, but it was going to take them to long to get there. So I made the decision to call our weapons and stall them until the cop's could arrive. When we wen't in, we found out that they were taking orders from a human, a man, I can't remember what his name was."

"Did this man have a cane and a black bowler hat?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"His name is Roman Torchwick. He's been on Vale's most wanted list for some time. This wasn't the first time he's robbed a dust shop for it's product, and I'm sure it won't be the last. But, getting back to the matter at hand, I don't think he was the one that gave you and Annie those injuries."

"No! He had help! An assasin! Her name was Murina I think. She's the one that handed us our asses."

"Can you desribe her for me?"

"She's a bat Faunus, the large ears on top of her head gave it away. She had red hair that was tied into a ponytail and she wore all black. There was something off about her though."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's like she didn't want to actually hurt us. Before blacking out, I remember her speaking with me. It was almost like she was pleading with me to stay away."

"Hmm, that is quite interesting." Ozpin turned to the clock on the wall. "Well, I think I've kept you long enough. I know a certain someone who is eager to see you." The headmaster got up and started making his way towards the door, but stopped and turned back around. "Just one more question before I go."

"Yes?"

"What made you think that you could take on an entire squad of White Fang soldiers?"

"I... I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

"Or, could it be that this was an extremely personal matter for you?"

Tanner's eyes grew wide with shock at the realization of what Ozpin was implying. "How did you know?"

"Mr Grey. Do you think I would let anybody into my school without an extensive background check?"

The young wolf turned his gaze away, unable to look the headmaster in the eye. "If you knew, then why did you let us enroll?"

"I don't believe that someones past should dictate what their future will be. I know why you joined them, but I also know why you left them." Having one of his biggest secrets revealed was frightening for the young Faunus, but at the same time he felt relieved. "Well I'll let you get some rest now. I'm sure Annie will be in shortly." Ozpin paused just before opening the door. "If you ever need to talk about anything, you only need to ask."

"Thank you sir."

* * *

"GOD'S DAMNIT IT! We still don't have enough dust to meet our quota!" Torchwick was irate at the boched robbery. Murina smiled to herself, pleased that the arrogant windbag had finally failed at something.

"So, what are you gonna do about it?" Adam Taurus was standing over a map of Vale with key locations circled all around it.

Torchwick pointed to spot near the water. "My sources tell me that there is a huge shipment coming in from Atlas Saturday night. This one job will supply us with more dust than we could ever need." Roman began looking all around the room. "MURINA!"

"What is with you and yelling my name! I can hear just fine!"

"Did you atleast take care of those two meddling kids?"

"They shouldn't be a problem for us anymore!"

"Shouldn't be? You mean you didn't eliminate them like you were ordered to?" The man was seething with anger, bending his cane so much that it looked like it was about to break.

"I don't see what the problem is. They're just kids."

 _Clink, clink, clink._ The sound of glass heels walking on concrete echoed throughout the warehouse. "The problem is that you were given a direct order, and you disobeyed it!" Murina froze in fear, the sound of the woman's voice was cold as steel. The bat turned to face the newcomer, the woman in red gracefully walking up to her.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't sign up to kill chi..." Cinder grabbed the Faunus by her hair, bringing her in close, a fireball forming in her other hand.

"When your given an order, we expect you to follow it to the letter! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Ye... Yes ma'am." The fire now inches away from her face.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Adam had enough and intervened. "You may be incharge, but that does not give you the right to assault my subordinates!"

Cinder let the bat Faunus go, turning towards Torchwick. "I'll be back in two day's to check on your progress. Don't disappoint me Roman." The woman in red made her exit, as Murina headed for a door in the opposite direction.

"Where do you think your going?" Torchwick still furious with her.

"I'm going for a walk! You want to try and stop me?"

"Let her go!" Adam managed to get Torchwicks attention. "Now, how many men are you going to need for this job?"

Murina didn't bother staying for the conversation, kicking open the door and disappearing into the night. She was a few blocks away from the warehouse when she turned down a deserted alleyway. She removed a loose brick from the side of the wall, pulling out a scroll. The screen flashed on, revealing the still image of a person shrouded in shadow. "Agent Spectrum reporting in."

"Ah Spectrum. It's good to hear from you after so long. We were starting to think you've been compromised."

"Give me a little credit."

"What have you got to report?"

"The White Fang are up to something big. The higher up's wont release any information to the soldiers which unfortunately includes myself."

"What of Torchwick?"

"Torchwick? He's nothing more than a front man. The real threat is his boss. She goes by the name Cinder."

"Any word on when this is to happen."

"No sir. But it seems to be happening soon."

"Good work. Keep us updated if any new information arises."

"There is one more thing I have to mention."

"What is it?"

"Their latest robbery was botched due to a couple kid's from Beacon Academy."

"Why would this news be of any use to us?"

"Well, sir, one of them is a shifter."

Their was a moment of silence on the other end. "Are you sure about that."

"Positive. I saw it with my own eye's."

"That can't be right! Our reports say that the last shifters were killed ten years ago."

"The reports were wrong." Murina was waiting for a response, but never recieved one. "Should I alter the plans to compensate for this development?"

"Negative! Stay the course. Contact agent White. Have him keep a close eye on this shifter."

"Understood! Spectrum out!"


	7. A Leg Up

**Authors Notes: Here is the next chapter to my story. I hope you enjoy. Reviews always welcome.**

The sound of Rebecca's hands crashing down on the table startled Emma, making her jump and look up from the book she was reading. "UGH! I can't take it anymore!"

"Young lady! If you cannot keep quiet I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Sorry ma'am. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't!"

"What's the problem now Becka?" Tanner was clearly annoyed at the outburst.

"It's Ooblecks stupid history exam. I can't wrap my head around it."

"But, you've been doing fine in class for the last three month's. Why are you starting to get confused now?"

"I don't know. It must be the stress from all the other finals. I can't think straight."

Emma felt compelled to try and give her partner a few words of encouragement. "You've aced every other final that we've had. There's no reason you won't with this one as well."

"Who are you kidding? We all know that I barely passed Grimm Studies!"

Emma shot her partner a death glare "Hey, I was just trying to cheer you up. If you want to keep beating yourself up, fine by me."

"Hey guys!" The awkward atmosphere around the table was broken by team RWBY. "HOWL'S it going today!" Emma would never admit it, but she kinda liked the horrible puns that Yang came up with.

"I suppose I should be grateful that you finally stopped with the dog pun's."

Yang gave Tanner a sly smirk as she sat down. "So, what's up?"

"Becka's just freaking out over our upcoming history exam," said Annie, with a hint of venom in her voice.

"Oh?! You too? Oobleck is the worst isn't he? Why does he have to..."

"Where's Weiss?"

The young silver eyed leader spoke up. "Well, she was sort of driving Yang crazy. I was afraid that if I didn't seperate the two of them that someone was either going to get stabbed or punched."

"She going overboard with studying?"

Blake spoke up this time. "Yes, but thats not the only reason. There's also the whole Vytal Festival thing. Weiss has been planning out every little detail for us to do in advance. You should see the huge binder she has for it! She's also dragging us all down to the dock's tomorrow afternoon for some reason, but she won't say why."

"Well, at least she's not forcing you to study." Rebecca turned towards Tanner. "Can I please go shoot something, or hit something or anything else besides this?"

Tanner let out a long sigh. "Alright. I think that we all need a break from school work anyways."

"Thank the gods!" Rebecca grabbed her partners wrist, yanking her to her feet. "Come on Emm, let's go have some fun." Before Emma could protest, she was dragged out of the library.

"Becka! Please slow down. Your going to rip my arm off!" Emma's cries fell on deaf ear's as they raced through the hall's. Rebecca turned a corner to sharply and came down hard on her right leg, a surge of pain shooting right through it.

"Damn! That hurt!" Rebecca let go of her partner and propped herself against a wall in order to keep from falling over.

"Are you alright?"

"Ya, I should be fine. Just twisted my leg. Happens all the time."

Emma was relieved that it wasn't to serious, then immediately flicked her partner on the forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I told you to slow down you brute! Now look what happened!"

"Hey, come on. I told you it's not serious." Rebecca tried to take a step, but winced in pain as she put pressure on her leg. Emma caught her before she could fall, placing her partners arm around her neck and supporting her weight.

"Come on, let's get back to the dorm so you can get that leg elevated."

The two of them managed to hobble back to their room without any further injuries. Emma flashed her scroll in front of the electronic reader, unlocking the door for them. The young Faunus dropped her partner down onto her bed. "You have some ice packs don't you?"

"Ya! They're over there. Top drawer." Rebecca pointed towards her desk. "There's also some ice dust in there as well." Emma opened the drawer and withdrew a pack and one of the little blue crystals. She activated the dust, instantly freezing the gel pack and tossing it to her friend on the bed.

"Just relax and keep that on your leg for a bit."

"Okay Mom!"

Emma shot her partner a death glare. "I'm serious! I don't want to have to spend the rest of the evening taking care of your clumsy ass!"

"Okay! Fine!"

"Good! I'm going in to have a shower. When I get out, we'll see if your leg is feeling any better." The Faunus turned and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Looking in the mirror, she untied her hair, letting the long silver strands fall down her back. Walking over to the sink, Emma started rummaging around for her shampoo, but couldn't find the bottle. "Damnit! I forgot I'm out." Being frustrated with herself, she settled on a bottle of Rebecca's instead. "I better ask her if it's alright for me to use this. With the bottle in hand, she exited the bathroom. "Hey Becka? Is it alright if I use your shampoo?" Rebecca's face turned beat red at the sudden appearance of her friend, throwing her blankets over her lower half with blinding speed.

"Um... Ya sure... I don't mind." Her eye's darted around, trying not to make contact with the young wolf.

"Why do you seem so nervous?" The Faunus giving her partner a suspicious look.

"Wh... who me? No, I'm not nervous."

The situation started dawning on Emma. The red face, the nervous act, being covered by her blankets could only mean... "Oh god's Rebecca! That's disgusting! I know I said to relax, but come on! I was only in there for about a minute."

"What!? Oh god's no! I swear that's not what I'm doing."

"Oh please! It makes perfect sense!"

"Emma I swear that's not what's going on!"

"What else could you be doing that you would feel the need to hide it from me?"

Rebecca let out a defeated sigh. "I guess you were going to find out sooner or later. Better that you be mad at me for this then something I didn't do." The gunner pulled back the sheets, revealing what she was hiding. Emma's eye's wen't wide with surprise. Rebecca did indeed have her shorts removed, but not for the reason her teammate thought. The skin on her injured leg had been pulled down, revealing the cybernetic prosthetic underneath. Rebecca looked up at her partner, expecting her to be upset, but was surprised at the reaction. Emma's eye's were as big as dinner plates and seemed to sparkle. Before she could say anything, The young wolf was already kneeling down beside the bed, examining the leg.

"Oh my gosh! This is amazing. I can't believe I never noticed this before." Emma glared up at her partner. "How did you manage to keep this a secret?"

"It's the fake skin. The doctor who performed the operation said that it would act just like real skin. And it has, even my aura is able to heal it if it get's damaged."

"Well, it sure does have the scent of real skin. It must also suppress the noise the leg makes as well." Emma now had a confused look on face. "But why did you keep this a secret from us?"

Rebecca couldn't bring herself to look at her friend. "Because I didn't want you guys to think I was a freak or anything." After a few moment's of silence, she turned to Emma, only to see her friend's face turn red, trying to hold in her laughter. "What's so funny?!"

Emma burst into hysterics. "You, that's whats so funny." The violet haired girl had a confused look to her. "You are attending a school that is teaching you to fight blood thirsty monster's. You live down the hall from a girl who waves around a giant gun scythe that's twice as big as her. Across from her is a girl who is basically one giant magnet. Your leader, my brother is a werewolf. If you were normal, then I would have to question your sanity as to why your here. That leg just makes you more of a badass in my opinion."

Rebecca eased up somewhat at hearing that. "Thanks Emma."

"No problem. Now, what's really wrong with your leg? You obviously didn't twist it."

"It overheated and seized up on me."

"Does that happen alot?"

"Only when I overexert myself."

"Let's see if I can't fix that then."

Rebecca got a worried look in her eye. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just because I let you in on my secret doesn't mean I'm just going to let you start messing around with my leg!"

"Calm down, I know what I'm doing. I've been tinkering and building electronics almost my whole life."

"Really?!" Rebecca was genuinely surprised at this.

"Ya!" Emma pointed to her friends scroll. "You seriously didn't notice that the four of us have a faster CCT connection on our scroll's than anyone else!"

"The gunner looked at her scroll with shock. "That's because of you? I just thought we lucked out."

"Nope!" Emma beamed with pride. "I made some improvements to the inner workings."

"I'll be damned!"

"Now, I'll go get my kit and you can take that leg off. I'm assuming that it comes off, right?" Rebecca nodded in response. "Good!" Emma wen't into the closet she shared with Becka, pulling out a large suitcase. With a few clicks she opened the case, removing various tools and assorted wiring.

Back on the bed, Rebecca had managed to remove the metal prosthetic with little difficulty, placing it beside her on the mattress. The Faunus strolled out of the closet with all the equipment she thought she would need and placed everything on her desk, before turning back to her partner. "Ah, excellent!" Walking over, Emma picked up the leg and went back to her desk. "I shouldn't be too long in fixing this. So just sit back and relax."

"Relax eh!" Becka replied with a smirk.

The wolf spun around to glare at her friend. "You know what I meant!" Turning back around, she started to carefully pull the skin down around the leg, exposing the metal limb underneath. Once the fake skin was removed, Emma got to work on opening it up to get to root of the problem. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you lose your leg?"

"I lost it in a car accident when I was about five. The doctors said I was lucky to have survived it. Afterwords, I had to wear a cheap plastic leg for years."

"Aren't you originally from Atlas. Isn't everyone there supposed to be rich or something?"

Rebecca let out a disgusted sigh. "Don't believe everything you hear. I'm from Mantle. You know, the place that got "left behind" once Atlas came into power. Nobody from Mantle had any money for anything."

"Then how did you get this leg?"

"Let's just say in my later years I did some work for some less than respectable people. I'm not proud of it, but I did what I had to do!"

"I'm sorry to hear that. But where were your parent's during all of this?"

"Hmph, my parent's! I never knew my mother! She took off as soon as I was born, and my father was a drunk! He would spend most of his time at the bar, only coming home after he had been kicked out. That's when he would start yelling. Basically blaming me for everything going wrong in his life!"

Tears were starting to form in Emma's eye's. "That's awful! I couldn't imagine a parent saying those horrible thing's to their kid."

"Ya, well, he wasn't much of a parent! I learned to take care of myself at a very young age. And once I was old enough I took off and never looked back. I found work wherever I could, usually from the gangs who liked to use kids as informant's. I hated every second of it, but every job that I finished meant I was that much closer to getting out. Once I got my leg, I promised myself to never do anything that would make me feel ashamed ever again. And for the most part, I've kept it!"

"Wow! That's sounds like quite the childhood you had! I couldn't imagin... Oh! There we go!" Emma had managed to open up the service panel on the side of the leg, finally peering inside to see what was wrong. What she saw caused her to spin around and glare at Rebecca once again.

"What?"

"No wonder you have been having so many problems with it! You have two lightning crystals hooked up as the power source!"

"So! I thought it would give me more power!"

"Of course it would give you more power! The circuits can't handle it and overheat. You have to have an ice crystal as a secondary power source so that it can keep it cool!

"Ohhh! That actually makes sense. My bad!"

Emma could only facepalm. "And these wires! After they get fried, you have to replace them, not wrap them in... What is this, duct tape?"

"After I bought the leg, I didn't have very much money left over for repairs, so I had to improvise."

"Your lucky that it hasn't blown up on you!"

"Can you fix it?"

The wolf almost seemed hurt at the question. "Of course I can fix it! Emma spun back around and got to work. "Just stay there until I'm done!"

"Where am I going to go? I only have one leg!"

* * *

The sun had just set and stars were now starting to appear in the night sky. Rebecca fell asleep a couple hours earlier, much to Emma's relief. Being able to work in silence made all the difference to the young Faunus. Replacing the access panel and reapplying the skin, Emma gave a loud satisfied sigh. "Done!"

Rebecca was roused from her sleep by the sudden outburst. "Ugh, what time is it?" Glancing over at the clock, her eyes grew wide. "Holy crap, it's that late?! I thought you were just going to do a patch job on it?"

"Oh calm down! You'll thank me for this." Emma stood up and walked over to the bed with the leg. "Can you put it back on, or would you like my help?"

Rebecca looked at her nervously. "I'm going to need your help. The nerves all need to be reconnected, which is very painful. I never really took it off for that reason."

"Emma gave her partner her own nervous look as she knelt down beside the bed. "So what's the right way to do this?"

Becca threw her leg over the side of the bed so she was facing Emma. "There really isn't a wrong way of doing it. Just line it up and push."

"Okay." The young wolf lined up the leg with the metal docking station and pushed.

"AAARGHH!" Rebecca's scream was loud. If it wasn't for the rooms being nearly soundproof, they would of surely had someone pounding on their door. "FUCKING FUCK! GOD'S DAMNIT!" Tears were streaming down her face as Emma looked on in terror.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you." The panick in her voice apparent.

It took a moment for the violet haired girl to catch her breath. "Don't... don't worry about it. It hurt's every time. But this time seemed less painful than whenever I would do it myself." Rebecca looked up into the big red and yellow eye's of her partner. "Thank you."

Relief flooded through Emma at hearing that. "Your welcome." Rebecca pushed herself up off the bed, a surprised look instantly dawning on her face. "So what do you think?" The gunner was at a loss for words. Her leg had never felt this good. In the past, there was never a time when she didn't know she was was wearing a prosthetic. It had a certain weight to it that just didn't feel right. But now, it felt almost natural.

"What did you do to it?" She asked, performing a couple of mock kicks with it. "It's never felt this good before."

Emma was elated at how her friend was reacting to her work, excited to tell her all she did. "I installed new ice and lightning crystal's, replaced all the fried wiring and changed th..."

Emma was cut off prematurely as Rebecca's lips pressed against her own, her hand grasping the back of the wolf's neck while the other moved down to her lower back, pulling her into a tight embrace. Emma's eye's became large with surprise at the spontanious act, eventually succumbing to her partner and leaning into the kiss as well. After a moment the two broke apart. Emma's face was a bright crimson, the taste of Becka's cherry chapstick still present on her lips. Both girl's stared into the other's eye's, not saying anything until Emma broke the silence. "Wh... What was that?"

"I'm sorry if I startled you. But I wanted to show you how much I appreciate what you did for me. This seemed like the best way to do that." Rebecca started to blush at the thought of what she was going to say next. "And I sort of, kind of, like you."

"You what?!"

"I like you OKAY!" Becka raising her voice to a near yell. "I've liked you ever since we first met back in the Emerald Forrest, when you saved me from that Beowolf. The way you lopped off it's head was truely a sight to behold." Rebecca's eye's were glazed over as she recounted the event.

"But why couldn't you just tell me that, instead of jumping me with a surprise makeout session?!"

The gunner was snapped back into the present. "I suppose in hindsight, that might have been the smarter thing to do. But I tend to not think things through sometimes. You should know that by now!"

"Don't you dare try to turn this around on me! I'm not the one at fault here. How are we supposed to move past this?"

"Who say's we have to?"

The wolf looked at her partner with a confused expression. "What do mean?"

"Can you honestly say you didn't feel anything just now?"

Emma was at a loss for words. She didn't want to admit it, but there definately was something between them. What that something was, she couldn't quite figure out. "I don't know. I mean, I liked it. At least I think i did. But I've never thought about being with someone romantically, much less another girl.

Rebecca gave her friend a sorrowful look. "Emma, I'm sorry for putting you in this position. I wasn't thinking. I don't want to pressure you into making a decision that your not comfortable with. Take as long as you need to think about it. And if you say no, then I'll understand and I won't press the subject again."

Emma could only look at her partner with a sombre smile. "Thank's Becka. But I don..." Emma was cut off, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her scroll, which was starting to vibrate. "Who could be calling at this hour?" Checking the caller ID, she was surprised at who it was. "It's Professor Ozpin!"

"What could he want?"

"I don't know!" Emma pressed the talk button and held it up to her ear. "Hello?!"

"Ah, Miss Grey! I'm glad I caught you. Is Miss Moon with you?"

"Yes, she's here with me."

"Good! There's something I need to discuss with the both of you."

Emma sat down beside her partner and put Ozpin on speaker phone. "Okay. What do you need to tell us?"

"Earlier tonight, there was an incident in the city. Both Mr Grey and Miss Myst were taken to Vale General Hospital."

"WHAT! Are... Are they okay?! What happened to my brother?!"

"Unfortunately, due to the ongoing investigation, I can't discuss any details with you. What I can tell is that your teammates will be alright. Annie has already been cleared and will be coming back with me. But they want to keep Tanner overnight as a precaution. He will be released tomorrow morning."

"I suppose that's good new's then." Emma responded with a weak voice.

"They're not in any kind of trouble are they?" Rebecca chimed in.

"No no! It's nothing like that." There was a brief pause before Ozpin started up again. "I know I can't keep them from telling you two all that transpired. All I ask is when they do tell you, please don't mention any of it to anyone else. We can't afford this investigation to become compromised."

Rebbeca reached over and plucked the scroll from Emma's grasp, who at this point started shaking uncontrollably. "We promise Professor. Thank you for calling."

"Indeed. If you ever need to talk, please don't hesitate to call."

With a beep, the call ended. Rebecca turned off the scroll and placed it on the night stand, turning back to her partner with a worried look. Emma was still shaking, staring straight at the ground. "Emma? Please say something! Your starting to scare me." No answer. "You heard Ozpin, they're going to be fine."

After a moment, the Faunus managed to tear her gaze away from the floor to look at her friend. The look of utter terror in her eye's shook Rebecca to her very core. Scooting over, Rebecca embraced the little wolf in a strong hug, who in turn reciprocated and burried her face in the violet haired girl's shoulder, the tears now freely flowing. "Shhh, shhh. It's ok. Just let it out." She stroked the back of Emma's head in an attempt to calm her down. After a few minutes, Emma stopped shaking and pulled out of the hug, her eye's all red and puffy. "Did you get it all out of your system?"

Emma gave her partner a nod. "Y... ya. I thi...think so." Her voice was still shaky.

"I've never seen you this scared before. What's going on?"

Emma sniffled a couple times. "When we were kids, our family was attacked by Grimm. We had to watch as our parents died protecting us." Tanner's the only family I have left. And hearing that he was in the hospital brought all those memories back." The tears in her eye's started anew. "I don't know what I'd do if he..."

"Emma!" The wolf looked up, startled out of her thoughts by her partner. "I don't believe that would ever happen!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because your brother is to damn stubborn to leave you! I'm almost certain that he would claw his way out of Hell to get back to you."

Emma seemed to cheer up some upon hearing that. "Ya. I can see that. He's always been hard headed like that."

"He's not the only one! I promise that I'll always be there for you as well. As a friend, or something more if you want."

Emma wiped the last of the tears away before grasping her partners hand, looking into her eye's with a soft smile. "I think I may have been wrong before."

"About what?"

"Maybe Tanner's not the only family I have. Before coming here, I never thought that I would meet anyone like you." Rebecca started to blush at Emma's confession. "Your loud, crude and brutish.

"Hey!"

"But your also kind, honest and loyal to a fault." Emma lowered her gaze, a sombre look spreading over her face. "I did feel something when you kissed me. I was just too scared to admit it before. I never thought about being with anyone because I didn't think anyone wanted to be with me."

"Why would you think that?! Your an awsome person. Your smart, pretty and as much as I hate that puppy dog look you give, I kinda find it adorable."

The Faunus blushed slightly at hearing this. "I can see now that your serious about this. So, if you don't mind taking things slow, then I am willing to give us a shot."

A relieved smile spread across Rebecca's face. "Whatever your most comfortable with is fine by me." Emma smiled back at her partner and the two embraced each other. After a moment, Becca broke the hold.

"It has been a very long day for the both of us. I think it's about time we got some sleep." Emma nodded in agreement and headed off to change into her pyjamas, Rebecca doing the same. As the wolf was changing out of her shorts, her partner couldn't help but sneek a glance, only to be caught by the Faunus, her face becoming bright red out of embarrassment. Emma only giggled at this display as she finished changing and hopped into bed. Rebecca was about to do the same when...

"Becka?"

"Ya?"

"I really don't feel like being alone right now. So do you... um... maybe want to sleep over here tonight?

"I would love to!" Rebecca walked over to her partner's bed and crawled in underneath the blankets. Emma immediately put her arm's around her and held on tight, the action being mirrored by the gunner.

"Thank you!"

"For what?"

"For being you!"

"Rebecca could only smile at hearing this. "Good night Emma."

"Night Becka."

With those final words, the two girls closed their eye's and fell asleep in each others arms.


End file.
